Meanwhile in Russia
by Suburban Legend
Summary: Sorry I'm not sorry for the title. This is a collection of one-shots that go alone with my other story 'Going Home'. The stories revolve around what is going on back on Earth during that story. Rated T because I would rather not have to change the rating later if I get violent.


Hello and welcome to my one-shots! These all exist in the Universe of my story, 'Going Home'. Each one will stand alone and focus around one particular character, but still feature other characters as well (I'm going to try and keep my OC count to a minimum because I sort of went berserk in Going Home).

The first story is a little shorter and it features Bulma and Yamcha! I hope you enjoy.

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There wasn't a single cloud in the sky that night. There was a light breeze that made the summer heat pleasant. It was the perfect night to sit on the roof and drink a bottle of wine with her husband. Bulma sighed and shook her head. She needed to stop thinking like that. Vegeta wasn't dead. Vegeta would be back and there would be other nights where the two of them would sit on this roof and have private conversations. Bulma sighed and looked at the burning cigarette in her hand. Her eyes brimmed with tears and she forced out a laugh. Bulma hadn't smoked a cigarette in over five years. Quitting these had been a term of their marriage.

"_You have to stop smoking those death sticks." He said one night as they drifted off to sleep. _

"_Mmm-what?" She asked, sitting up a little and looking at the father of her child. A man that she had only recently starting thinking of as her boyfriend. Even though they had arguably been together since about a year before Trunks had been born, it had just turned into something similar to a real relationship. They were still both getting used to the change in dynamic._

"_You have to stop. It masks your natural scent, makes your hair dull, makes you cough at night, and it's going to kill you before your time. I'm already going to live longer than you. You shouldn't do something that will cause you to die sooner." As we expected of Vegeta, his voice was firm and left little room for discussion. Unfortunately for Vegeta, Bulma had always viewed that as a challenge, and even though she agreed with him, she still felt like she had to argue._

"_You sound like my dad."_

"_Your dad smokes more than you do." Vegeta said, frowning in confusion._

"_And don't you think it kills him, knowing that I learned it from him? He's always going on about how I need to quit." Bulma sat up and looked over Vegeta. "He's the only one who can scold me about smoking."_

_Vegeta scoffed. "Why is that?"_

"_It's a daddy, daughter thing. Maybe you'll understand one day."_

"_When we have a daughter?" The question was innocent enough, but it really got her thinking. She was so focussed on the idea of another child that she almost missed the most important statement Vegeta had ever made to her._

"_\- know if I can't marry you. And I can't marry you if you smoke."_

"_You… what?" Bulma said, rubbing the sleep from her eyes and staring intently at Vegeta._

_He had a small smile on his face and a twinkle in his eyes that usually meant nothing good was about to come. "Well how can I, the prince of all Saiyans, expect to marry a human who has a death wish for herself?"_

_"Wouldn't marrying you, the Prince of all Saiyans, just prove that I DO have a death wish for myself?" Bulma asked, sticking her tongue out at him. _

_Vegeta only scoffed in response._

"_This is the worst marriage proposal I've ever had." She added and snuggled closer to Vegeta. She felt his muscles tense at her statement._

"_How many proposals have you had?" He asked slowly. Bulma didn't need to look at him to know there was doubt and uncertainty in his dark eyes._

_Bulma shifted slightly and kissed Vegeta's noise before settling against his chest. She slowly drifted off to sleep, but before she did, she muttered, "Just this one… but I expected a ring in even the worst case scenario fantasies I've had."_

_Vegeta chuckled slightly, causing his chest to vibrate. "I'll buy you a ring when you stop smoking."_

"He certainly knew how to win a fight." Bulma said to herself as she pushed the butt into the full ashtray. She knew if he was here right now he would fling some insult at her about her idiocy; about her death wish. She sighed and pulled another cigarette from the pack. She had come to learn that the more insulting Vegeta was, the more he cared.

A soft sob wracked her body as she lit the cigarette.

"Goku's going to bring him back, Bulma."

Bulma looked up quickly at the familiar voice that was directly in front of her. Sure enough, Yamcha was floating just feet away from where she sat.

"What are you doing here?" Bulma asked, trying to hide her tears.

"I was in town meeting up with an old baseball friend for dinner. Thought I would pop in and see how you were doing. I'm glad I did, you look like shit."

Bulma laughed, despite herself. "Wanna sit, jerk face?"

Yamcha landed and took a seat at a respectful distance from his ex-girlfriend. It had been a long road to get to where they could be alone together without any lingering hurt or anger bubbling through. It took him years to think of her as anything other than the woman he let get away. Now, he couldn't have held a romantic thought about her if he tried.

They were silent for a long time, but finally Bulma spoke. She could never stay quiet for long and her emotions got the better of her. "What if he doesn't want to come back?" She asked in a small voice.

"He's going to want to come back."

"How can you be sure?"

"Because."

"Well now I feel a whole lot better." Bulma said, angry that Yamcha was so certain and that she was so uncertain. Normally, it was the other way around.

"Listen, Vegeta and I don't always see eye to eye." Yamcha said, frowning in concentration. He had never been the best at vocalizing his feelings. When he was sure about something, he was just _sure_. "But there was always one thing we could agree on."

"What's that?"

"That you are worth coming back for."

Bulma took another drag of her cigarette before putting it out.

"Plus, if nothing else, he's going to have to come back to yell at you for smoking again. You know that he could never resist picking a fight with you."

Bulma laughed so hard she snorted. "I think I may have had too much to drink." She confessed, looking at the discarded bottle of wine. It was empty. She hadn't even bothered to get a glass.

"Hey, that new Adventure Park just outside of town opened up last week. Have you taken Trunks there yet? I bet he would love it. They've got go-karts, putt-putt, laser tag, and batting boxes!"

Bulma shook her head. She hadn't been much of a good mother these past few weeks. Trunks was holding up a lot better than she was, if she was being honest. He shared the opinion that the only reason Goku would return without Vegeta was if Goku failed to get to him. He also shared the opinion that Goku never failed. Trunks was really a resilient young man and he had more patience in his little finger than both of his parents combined.

"I'll take you both tomorrow." Yamcha offered with a smile. "I think it would do you some good to get out of the house and I think your son would be thrilled to do something fun with you."

"That would be… nice." Bulma said after a moment. She regarded Yamcha with a newfound appreciation. He really was a great and loyal friend.

"Okay," Yamcha said as he stood. "I'll be here around noon tomorrow to collect you both. I would recommend drinking some water before you go to sleep."

Yamcha floated into the air and was about to take off towards home, but then stopped, as if something else occurred to him. "Oh, and Bulma?" He said, turning to look at her once more before disappearing into the night. "Remember that you're not alone in this. We're all here to help and all you need to do is reach out."

With that, he was gone, leaving Bulma alone with her thoughts on the roof once more. She smiled to herself and nodded. How could she forget that she had a network of loved ones to hold her up when she needed it?

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Please review!

And I should mention that if you had itchy thoughts about what was going on in the life of any particular character, please let me know in the reviews! Unlike my full stories, these one shots will be written more on a whim than anything, so I am definitely open to suggestions.


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